Yarn carrier for a weaving machine

ABSTRACT

A yarn carrier for a weaving machine which has two arms including a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means of contact between the two arms which are resiliently biased toward each other at the front of the yarn carrier in the flying direction. The yarn carrier also has a mechanism for releasing the depression of the two arms of the yarn gripping portion by a force applied from outside against the resiliency so as to freely pass the yarn through a gap made between the arms. Also, the yarn carrier has a guide groove formed in such a manner that width gradually decreases from the front to the rear of the feeding direction of the yarn carrier so as to feed the yarn to the yarn gripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formed in parallel with the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion at the inlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarn carrier.

United States Patent Kimura et al.

[2]] Appl. No.: 49,476

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 24, 1969 Japan ..44/59605Mar. 31, 1970 Japan ..45/27539 Mar. 31, 1970 Japan ..45/27540 [52] US.Cl ..'..l39/l25 51 rm. Cl. ..D03j 5/06 [58] Field of Search.....l39/I3R,122 R, l22-N, 123, 139/125, 126, 127, 197

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,072,158 3/1937 Dewas 139/126 [451 Oct. 3, 1972 2,738,810 3/1956 Varkonyi et a1. ..139/ 126FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,488,508 5/1967 France 139/125 PrimaryExaminer-Henry S. Jaudon Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn 8LMacpeak ABSTRACT A yarn carrier for a weaving machine which has two armsincluding a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means ofcontact between the two arms which are resiliently biased toward eachother at the front of the yarn carrier in the flying direction. The yarncarrier also has a mechanism for releasing the depression of the twoarms of the yarn gripping portion by a force applied from outsideagainst the resiliency so as to freely pass the yarn through a gap madebetween the arms. Also, the yarn carrier has a guide groove formed insuch a manner that width gradually decreases from the front to the rearof the feeding direction of the yarn carrier so as to feed the yarn tothe yarn gripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formedin parallel with the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion atthe inlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarncarrier.

2 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDntra I972- SHEET 1 BF 3 vPATENTEDMI'B m2 saw 3 of 3 FIG. 80

. 1 YARN CARRIER FOR A WEAVING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention This invention relates to a yarn carrier for aweaving machine, and more particularly to improvements of the yarncarrier used for a feeding of weft yarn 'to a weaving machine, andfurther to a yarn carrier which carries a weft yarn from one or morecheeses disposed at one or both sides of a weaving machine.

2. Description of the Prior Art One type of the conventional yarncarrier inserts a shuttle opener between two flat springs disposedoppositely to open the flat springs, grips the yarn to feed the weftyarn, and stops the yarn carrier at a predetermined location at theother end so as to open the flat springs by the shuttle opener to removethe weft yarn.

Another of the conventional yarn carriersjengages the weft yarn at. theinitial point-of the feeding thereof and brakes .theyarn :by the yarncarrier. itself at the same timefeedingth'e'y a A still further type ofthe conventional yarn carrier has a small hole at the rear of theyarncarrier and the yarn passes through this small hole underthe force of adevice such as an air gun, flying the yarn carrier in a state that theend of the yarn is gripped by a gripper so that when the yarn carrier isdisposed at a predetermined place the" gripper of the end of the yarn isopened so that the yarn of hair pin state is braked so as to feed theweft yarn.

In still another embodiment the yarn carrier has a pair of right andleft books at one side thereof so that when it flys by the yarn carrierhaving a blade at the root of the hook, the weft yarn is stretched by ahigh tension from an ear to a cheese is engaged at the position of 2 cmfrom the selvage so as to insert into the warp yarn wherein the yarn iscut by the blade of the hook and shorter yarn is remained so as to gripthe end of theyam atthe sideof cheese.

yThe first and third of the aforementioned yarn carriersfeed the yarn atsteady state conditions, and accordin'gly it takes time to feed the yarnso that it lowers the efficiency of the machine. The second and thirdcarriers allow the yarn to fly by while they are broken by the yarncarrier itself so that the tension of the weft yarn becomes irregularand therefore a nappy state is introduced resulting occasionally incutting the weft yarn or slacking it. Accordingly, a material for theweft yarn is restricted with the result that the latter carrierscarriers are not preferable for a weaving machine. Further, the fourthyarn carrier grips and cuts the yarn at the same time, so that itimparts high tension to the yarn and reduces the gripping function ofthe weft yarn so that this carrier is restricted to use only woolen yarnor thick spun yarn and it is not proper for weaving fine spun yarn orfilament yarn. I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention toeliminate the aforementioned disadvantages of the conventional yarncarriers and to provide a novel and improved yarn It is an object of thepresent invention to provide a novel small-sized yam carrier which atthe initiation of its flying motion, exactly holds a weft yarn fedfrom'o'ne or more cheeses disposed on one or both sidesof a weavingmachine (this state of the yarn will be referred to hereinafter as thestraightening of yarn) at approximate its forward end. The yarn carriercarries the yarn in this state and upon reaching the other end of theweaving machine, automatically releases'the weft yarn from its grip.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided ayarn carrier for a weaving machine which comprises two arms including ayarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by-means of the pressure onthe two arms caused by the resiliency of the arms at the front of theyarn carrier with respect to the flying direction and a mechanism forreleasing thedepression of the two armsof the yarn gripping portion whenthe yarn carrier is urged from outside against the'resiliency so as topass freely the yarn through the gap made between the arms,.and alsohaving a yarn guide groove formed in such a manner that its widthbecomes gradually narrower from the front to the rear of the feedingdirection of the yarn carrier and that the opening structure is formedin the same direction as the yarn gripping portion and that the yarngripping portion is formed in parallel with the flying direction of theyarn at the end portion at the inlet portion of the yarn to the yarngripping portion of the yarn carrier.

The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a yarncarrier of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inner structure of the yarn carrier shownin FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views of other embodiments of the yarn carrier ofthis invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the yarn carrier ofthis invention;

' FIG. 6 is a plan view of the yarn carrier of the inner structurethereof;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a yarn standing and gripping device usedfor the yarn carrier;

FIGS. 8a to 8d are explanatory views of the steps of the operation ofthe carrier shown in FIG. 5 and the device in FIG. 7 to feed the weftyarn;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the yarncarrier of this invention; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the inner structure of the yarn carrier shownin FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, the like partsand components are designated by the same reference numerals.

' Reference is now made to the drawings, particularly to FIGS. 1 through4, which show one embodiment of the present invention.

In the multiple embodiment, like elements carry like numerals. The yarncarrier comprises holder plates 1 and 2 which include guide groove orcutout 3 of V shape being narrower gradually from the front to the reardirection with respect to the flying direction of the yarn carrier or tothe yarn gripping portion. The nip arm is rotatably held by the holderplates 1 and 2, and fixed to either or both of the holder plates 1 and2, by the pins or screws gauge plates 7, 8 and 9 provide spacing betweenthe holder plates 1 and 2, and nip arm and enable the nip arm to berotatable. The gauge plates are fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 byscrews 17 and pins 18. Nip arm 5 is fixed.

The yarn carrier shown in FIG. 2 comprises a long bent groove in the niparm 4, and a short groove 11 in the fixed nip arm 5. A bent resilientmember 6 fixedly disposed mostly in the long groove 10 and extends somein the short groove 11. The nip arm 4 is pivotally supported rotatablyat the fulcrum A fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 so that the yarngripping portion 4a is urged onto the yarn gripping portion 5a of thefixed nip am 5 by the elasticity of the resilient member 6 and the yarngripping portions 4a and 5a pass through the end portion 3a of the yarnguide groove to be disposed on a line in parallel with the flyingdirection of the yarn carrier. Space is provided between the arms 4 and5 at the rear with respect to the flying direction of the yarn carrierof the nip arm so that if the rear end B of the nip arm 4 is urgedagainst the elasticity of the resilient member 6, it may rotate aroundthe fulcrum A to release the contact of the yarn gripping portions 4aand 5a.

In the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 3, the bent resilient member 6 is atone end inserted into the short groove 11' provided at one end of thefixed nip arm 5 and at the other into the long groove 10' of the nip arm4' so that the yarn gripping portion 4a of the nip arm 4' is alwaysurged into contact with the yarn gripping portion 5a of the fixed niparm 5. The engaging point at end 4b of the nip arm 4' and the gaugeplate 9 acts as a fulcrum due to the tension of the resilient member 6.Accordingly, if the neighborhood of the rear end B of the nip arm 4' isdepressed, it may rotate about point C of the yarn gri'pping portion 4aas a fulcrum and release the contact between the yarn gripping portions4a and 50 except the point C.

In the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 4, the movable nip arm 4" has aprojection 12 and movable nip arm 4' has a groove 13 for engaging theprojection 12. Pins 15 are fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2,respectively within guide grooves 14 for the pins 15, and a pin 16 whichis fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 at the rear engages an eye 6a of aresilient fork member 6' so that the rear portions of the holder plates1 and 2 are urged by both legs 6b and 6c of the fork member 6' with theresult that the yarn gripping portions 4a and 40" are urged into contactwith each other. If the rear ends B" and B' of the nip arms 4" and 4"are urged in the neighborhood thereof, the arms are rotated at theprojection l2 and the engaging groove 13 of the projection 12 as afulcrum with each other so that the yarn gripping portions 4a" and 4 a'are released from contact. In this case, the guide grooves 14 effect aguiding action for positively rotating the arms. Though in thisembodiment the rear ends B" and B of the nip arms 4" and 4" project fromthe holder plates 1 and 2, they need not always project as long as theymay be depressed from the outside.

The yarn carrier shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 may be driven by means of asolenoid instantaneously magnetized by a pulse electric current or by atorsion spring whence the end of the yarn ejected previously across theflying line of the yarn carrier (not shown) is guided by the guidegroove 3 to the movable nip arms 4, 4', 4" and 4", and the end of thefixed nip arm 5, is positively inserted between the yarn grippingportions 4a and 5a or 40' and 5a and 4a and 4a" of the high speed flyingyarn carrier and flys along with the yarn carrier to feed the weft yarn.When the yarn carrier arrives at the other end, the weft yarn isreleased from engagement therewith since the rear portions B, B, B" andB' of the nip arms 4, 4, 4" and 4" are urged by a fixed projection orpusher (not shown) thereby rotating the nip arms 4, 4', 4", 4"respectively against the tension of resilient members 6 or 6'.

The yarn carrier shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises nip arms 54 and 54'which include projections 54b and 54b, respectively projecting above theholder plates. Enough hollow portion 57 is provided to allow the arms toopen or close. The nip arms 54 and 54' open or close about the fulcrums55 and 55 as a center, and the yarn gripping portions 54a and 54a of thenip arms are depressed by the plate springs 56 and 56'. Of course, anymember such as spring, rubber material may be used instead of the platesprings 56 and 56'.

FIG. 7 shows one embodiment of a yarn feeding device incorporated withthe yarn carrier of this invention particularly used for a yarn easy togrip such as glass filament yarn. In FIG. 7, a pipe 71 comprises aninlet portion 72 which is wide enough to pass the yarn carrier withoutaffecting its projections and a main portion 73 having narrower widthwhich passes the yarn carrier but contacts the projections 54b and 54bprojecting from the holder plates 1 and 2 and a proximity switch 75 isprovided on the upper wall of the main portion 73. The device alsocomprises a yarn collecting device 76 and a yarn gripping device 78using a magnet to intermittently grip the yarn 79. The interaction ofthe yarn carrier and yarn supplying device is shown in FIGS. 8a through8d. FIG. 8a shows the state of the yarn carrier and yarn supplyingdevice when the yarn carrier is stationary. The yarn gripping device 78of the yarn supplying device is closed and the yarn 79 is held andstraightened. The yarn carrier is driven by the attracting force of themagnet (not shown) upon energization thereof by a pulsating current oraction of a spring (not shown), and is introduced into the tube 71(shown in FIG. 8b). As it approaches the switch 75 provided in the tube71, this switch will operate to shut off the current to the magnet ofthe gripping device 78 through a control device (not shown) separatelyprovided so as to open the gripping device. As shown in FIG. 80 at thenext moment, the end of the yarn carrier passes through the switch 75 sothat the projecting portions 54b and 54b from the holder plates of thenip arm of the yarn carrier are urged in contact with the main part 73of the tube 71 with the result that the gripping portions 54a and 54a ofthe nip arms are opened against the force of the plate springs 56 and56'. The force required for the nip arms may vary depending upon thechange of the position of the fulcrum, but generally the supportingposition may be better if as near as possible to the gripping portion.

In FIG. 8d, the yarn carrier passes the main portion 73 of the tube 71and the yarn 79 is introduced between the gripping portions 54a and 54aof the nip arm. Since the contacting pressure of the nip arm to theprojections 54b and 54b is released when the yarn 79 passes through themain portion 73 of the tube 71, the plate springs 56 and 56' of the yarncarrier are reset so that the nip arms 54 and 54' positively grips theyarn 79. The yarn carrier then carries the warp yarns opened to the endof the weaving machine.

At the end of the weaving machine, the yarn carrier is introduced intothe tube (not shown) with the same structure as the tube 71 and a magnetof a yarn gripping device (not shown) is energized by the operation ofthe switch provided in the tube so as to close the gripping device thuscutting off the yarn at a predetermined position in the neighborhood ofthe outlet of the yarn supplying tube 71. These operations are repeatedso that quick and positive weaving operation may be done. As previouslydescribed, the tube 71 is used in the particular case, to-actuate theyarn carrier, but it need not always beused.

In FIGS. 9 and l0, the yarn carrier comprises holder plates 91 and 92,and a slide plate 93 slidable in parallel with respect to thefeedingdirection of the yarn carrier on the holder plates '91 and 92 and isheld by the resilient member 94. In this embodiment, the slide plate isprojected from the end of the holder plates 91 and 92 in the amount ofapproximately 1mm at its ends 93a. Further, the slide plate 93 compriseslong holes 93b, and engaging grooves 930 for engaging with theprojections 95a of the nip arms 95. The device also comprises pins 92'for slidablyguiding the slideplate 93; which pins are fixed to theholderplates 91 and 92 within the long holes 93b. The nip arms 95 areround at their ends and are mounted to freely rotate by the contactbetween the engaging grooves 930, and the projections95a, upon slidingof the slide plate 93 with pins 95b acting as a fulcrum. The holderplates 91 and and slide plate 93 comprise guide groove 96 of V shapegradually narrowing from the front end to the rear end, respectively.The device also has a spring holder plate 97 fixedly carrying a pin 98on which a resilient member such as spring 94 is mounted. A gauge plate99 is spaced between the holder plates 91 and 92, said gauge plate beingfixed to the holder plates 91 and 92 by the pins 990 and screw 910. Thespring holder plate 97 is formed to the same height as gauge plate 99 soas to allow the slide plate 93 to smoothly rotate the nip arms 95.Screws 911 and 912 fixedly engage the holder plates 91 and 92, andscrews 913 and 914 fix the holder plates 91 and 92 and spring holderplate 97.

The yarn carrier thus constructed is driven by the solenoidinstantaneously when magnetized by the pulse current or may be driven bya torsion spring. The end of the yarn is straightened across the flyingline of the yarn carrier prior to the initiation of the flying of theyarn. The high speed initial flying of the yarn carrier causes the yarnto be positively gripped between the nip arms 95. When the yarn carrierarrives at the other end, the ends 93a of the slide plate 93 aredepressed by a member such as a wall of the yarn carrier receivingdevice (not shown) so that they are compressed to the end position ofthe holder plates 91 and 92. If the ends 93a do not project, aprojection is provided in the receiving device so that this may depressit inwardly at the end. Thus, the engaging grooves 930 of the slidingplate 93 lowers the engaging projection of the nip arms 95 againsttheresiliency of the resilient member such as spring 94 whereby the niparms 95 rotate on the pins 95b as a fulcrum so that the gripped weftyarn is released from engagement.

In order to straighten the yarn before the yarn carrie of this inventiongrips the weft yarns, it is preferable to hold the yarn in astraightened state.

If the tension is large, in order to prevent the yarn from passingthrough the yarn gripping portion, the end of the groove provided in theholder plate may be in register with the yarn gripping portion.

In all the embodiments described above the yarn carrier of thisinvention is compact, for example, 50 mm in length, 12 mm in width and 6mm in thickness. Further, it is preferable that the surfaces of the yarngripping portion of the nip arms be rough depending upon the type of theyarn, or have material of large friction coefficient coated thereon oradhered thereonto.

In the above description of the present invention, the holder plate hasbeen described as planar. It may, however, not always be planar, but maybe any shape in section, such as, for example, having an arcuate raisedportion. Or, it may be cast or ground integrally with the gauge plate.However, if the section in the direction normal to the feeding directionis circular, the yarn carrier tends to rotate while it is flying so thatthis shape is not preferred. The end of the nip arm may preferably becircular so as not to deflect the yarn. In addition, though a groove hasbeen provided above on the holder plate, the end of the nip arm may beformed broadly to form a groove to the yarn gripping portion and thegroove dispensed with.

The yarn straightening device may preferably be provided near theinitial flying position.

Though the nip arm is exemplified in contact with another resilientmember, the nip arm itself is formed by a resilient member so that whenany force is not applied from the outside, the yarn gripping portion isin contact therewith, but when the part of the nip arm is supplied witha depressing force from the outside, the force is imparted against theresilient force of the nip arm itself thereto with the result that thecontact of the yarn gripping portion is released.

It should be understood from the foregoing description that the yarncarrier of this invention guides the weft yarn in the guide groove tothe yarn grippingportion of the arms so as to positively grip it withoutany mispick. In addition, the compact volume of the yarn carrierrequires only a small force so as to accelerate the weaving.

It should be also understood that according to the present invention thetension of the weft yarn is uniform and the volume of the weavingmachine may be saved.

We claim:

1. A yarn carrier for a weaving machine comprising:

spaced holder plates,

a yarn guide in the form of an inwardly tapering opening at the front ofthe spaced holder plates relative to the sliding direction of saidcarrier,

relatively movable nip arm means positioned between said plates andhaving opposed yarn 7 gripping edges within said opening for graspingthe yarn by means of contact between said edges,

a slide plate mounted between said holder plates for limited oscillationrelative to said holder plates along a line parallel to the direction ofadvancement of said carrier,

resilient means normally biasing said slide plate to a forward positionrelative to the direction of advancement of said carrier, and

means responsive to sliding motion of said plate relative to said niparm means for opening and closing said yarn gripping edges of saidrelatively movable mp arm means.

2. The yarn carrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein said nip arm meansincludes at least one nip arm mounted for pivotal movement between saidholder plates about an axis at right angles to the direction ofadvancement of said carrier, said means for opening and closing saidyarn gripping edges of said nip arm means comprising: longitudinallyextending slot means formed within said slide plate, pin means fixed tosaid holder plates and positioned within said slot means permittinglimited slidable movement of said slide plate, a projecting lug on saidpivotable nip arm, a cut-out formed within said slide plate to receivesaid lug, with said lug and said cut-out being located relative to thepivot axis of said pivotable nip arm, such that abutment of the leadingedge of said slide plate depresses said slide plate rearwardly againstthe bias of said resilient means to open said nip arm means and tothereby release said yarn.

I. II I II t

1. A yarn carrier for a weaving machine comprising: spaced holderplates, a yarn guide in the form of an inwardly tapering opening at thefront of the spaced holder plates relative to the sliding direction ofsaid carrier, relatively movable nip arm means positioned between saidplates and having opposed yarn gripping edges within said opening forgrasping the yarn by means of contact between said edges, a slide platemounted between said holder plates for limited oscillation relative tosaid holder plates along a line parallel to the direction of advancementof said carrier, resilient means normally biasing said slide plate to aforward position relative to the direction of advancement of saidcarrier, and means responsive to sliding motion of said plate relativeto said nip arm means for opening and closing said yarn gripping edgesof said relatively movable nip arm means.
 2. The yarn carrier as claimedin claim 1, wherein said nip arm means includes at least one nip armmounted for pivotal movement between said holder plates about an axis atright angles to the direction of advancement of said carrier, said meansfor opening and closing said yarn gripping edges of said nip arm meanscomprising: longitudinally extending slot means formed within said slideplate, pin means fixed to said holder plates and positioned within saidslot means permitting limited slidable movement of said slide plate, aprojecting lug on said pivotable nip arm, a cut-out formed within saidslide plate to receive said lug, with said lug and said cut-out beinglocated relative to the pivot axis of said pivotable nip arm, such thatabutment of the leading edge of said slide plate depresses said slideplate rearwardly against the bias of said resilient means to open saidnip arm means and to thereby release said yarn.